Frederick William BELL VC, MID

BELL, Frederick William

Service Number: 8
Enlisted: 1 October 1899, Perth, Western Australia
Last Rank: Lieutenant
Last Unit: 6 Mounted Infantry Contingent
Born: Perth, Western Australia, 3 April 1875
Home Town: Perth, Western Australia
Schooling: D. Letch's preparatory school and Perth Boys' School, James street, Perth, Western Australia
Occupation: Public Servant / Cashier
Died: Natural causes, Bristol, England, 28 April 1954, aged 79 years
Cemetery: Canford Cemetery & Crematorium, Bristol, England
Memorials: Frederick William BELL VC, Keith Payne VC Memorial Park, Kings Park Honour Avenues, North Bondi War Memorial, Pinjarra Commemoration Way
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Biography contributed by Nicholas Egan

Australian Dictionary of Biography - by H. J. Gibbney

Frederick William Bell (1875-1954), soldier and colonial administrator, was born on 3 April 1875 in Perth, son of Henry Thomas Bell, clerk, and his wife Alice Agnes, née Watson. Educated at A. D. Letch's preparatory school and at the government school, Perth, he joined the Western Australian Public Service in November 1894 as a cadet in the Department of Customs where he later became a cashier.

On the outbreak of the South African War in October 1899 Bell enlisted as a private in the 1st West Australian (Mounted Infantry) Contingent. He first saw action at Slingersfontein, and later took part in the relief of Johannesburg and of Pretoria and the battles of Diamond Hill and Wittebergen; on 19 July 1900, in a sharp engagement at Palmeitfontein, he was seriously wounded and was invalided to England. He returned to Perth in February 1901, was commissioned lieutenant in the 6th Contingent on 8 March, and re-embarked for South Africa. On 16 May at Brakpan, Transvaal, while his unit was retreating under heavy fire, he went back for a dismounted man and took him up on his horse. The animal fell under the extra weight and Bell, after insisting that his companion take the horse, covered his retreat; for this action he received the Victoria Cross—the first awarded to a Western Australian.

To read more open link below 

https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bell-frederick-william-5191 (adb.anu.edu.au)

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